Remember "Bob"? They guy I had to let go? Well, I mentioned that he was upset when I fired him.

But I didn't realize how upset or vengeful until shortly afterwards when I had a visit by a crew of people sporting badges from the local OSHA office. The group's spokesperson told me that they had gotten a report that my shop was flaunting many safety rules and that they would find violations aplenty.

But, upon entering the shop area, the OSHA crew all started scratching their heads. They seemed to be genuinely surprised to find that all of the safety guards on my machines were in place and that, for the most part, the shop was well organized. There were no cords or hoses to trip over, heaps of wood scrap, or piles of rags drenched in lacquer thinner sitting right next to a guy who was smoking a cigar.

The boss enforcer got a knowing look on his face and asked me if I had recently fired someone. OSHA left without writing me up for any violations. Over the next couple of weeks I got similar visits from the state tax board, fire department and several other regulatory agencies. My good man Bob had sicked every dog he could think of on me.

Imagine that!

D.D.